Spools



Oct. 3, 1961 w. T. GRANGER 3,002,610

SPOOLS v Filed Nov. -e, 1958 n ll INVENTOR win 3,002,610 SPOOLS William T. Granger, Livingston, NJ., assignor to Decorated Metal Mfg. Co., Inc., Milltown, NJ., acorporation of New York Filed Nov. 6, 1958, Ser. No. 772,347 4 Claims. (Cl. 206-52) This invention relates to spools and, more particularly, to spool packages or containers such as used for adhesive tape.

Packages of this general type generally include a spool with a pressure or snap-fitted sleeve or cover and have been formed principally of sheetmetal. Plastic molded spools possess certain advantages but, with present methods of manufacture are of limited utility due to restrictions on the number of die cavities available when molding a spool with both flanges and barrel in a single operation and the expense involved in molding flanges and barrel separately and then assembling them.

In typical present practice, adhesive or other tape is wound on a double flange spool and the sleeve is then pushed in place around the spool flanges, involving essentially, so far as the package is concerned, one winding operation and one assembly operation. The present invention provides a plastic spool package also involving one winding operation and one assembly operation, in which the package components are so formed that multiple cavity molds with as many cavities as may be desired may be used for molding 'both components so that both expense of production of the components and expense of assembly are held to a minimum.

In a typical package according to the present inven tion, the package is formed as two components, one including the spool barrel and one spool flange and the other including the second spool flange and the sleeve. The nature of both components is such that all mold parts may move parallel to each other, so that the mold cavities need not be restricted to a single line as in present spool molding practice.

The general object of the invention is to provide an economical, convenient flanged plastic spool package and method of manufacture.

With this and still other objects which will appear in the following description in mind, the invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawing and the features forming the invention will then be pointed out in the appended claims.

In the drawing:

FIG. 1 is a side elevation, partly in central or axial section, of spool and sleeve components embodying the invention in a preferred form;

FIG. 2 is a plan elevation of the spool barrel component of FIG. 1, partly in section on the line 2-2 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a bottom elevation view (looking in the direction of the arrows 33 of FIG. 1) of the sleeve component of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 shows the spool component of FIG. 1 with tape wound thereon;

FIG. 5 is a view similar to FIG. 1, but showing the two components in process of assembly;

'FIG. 6 is a view similar to FIG. 5, but showing the completed assembly; and

FIG. 7 is an elevation, on a reduced scale, showing the sleeve separated from the spool to permit rewinding of the tape by the user thereof.

The package of the present invention comprises components indicated generally by the reference letters A and B, in FIGS. 1 to 5 inclusive, component A comprising a spool barrel 1 and flange 2 molded integral therewith, and component 13 comprising a second flange 3 and United States Patent "ice Patented Oct. 3, 1961 sleeve 4 molded therewith, but frangibly joined to the flange 3 so as to separate during assembly, as later described.

Component A comprises, as stated, a flange 2 which is generally flat so as to take an adhesively secured or imprinted label of annular form, and which preferably has a thickened rim 5 to give maximum strength for given weight of material. The barrel 1, which is molded integrally with the flange 2, may have internal ribs 6 and grooves 7 extending most of the length (axially) of the barrel and providing driving engagement with the expansible ball mandrel of the usual adhesive tape winding machine. Beyond the ribbing and grooving 6, 7 and adjacent the opposite end of the barrel from flange 2, the barrel 1 is formed with teeth 8 to engage the hub of a second flange, as described below.

Component A (and component B) may be molded of any convenient plastic and is preferably made of a polystyrene or high-impact polystyrene thermoplastic, as such material may be injection molded with a rapid cycle, have desirable smooth surface characteristics, low cost, and a clear, transparent quality in a variety of colors. In molding, the gating may be as indicated in phantom at g in FIGS. 1 and 2, the plastic being supplied to cruciform channels formed in the mold parts and flowing into the mold cavity proper through gates g1 to g4. The cruciform shape g breaks loose through the gates g1 to g4 leaving small projections inside the barrel which ordinarily do not require grinding or any other finishing operation, but may be left in the barrel. Since the gating is to the ribs 6 and the balls of the expansible mandrel will engage between ribs and outside the plane g1-g2g3-g4, the small projections left by breaking the gates g1 to g4 do not interfere in any way with mounting the spool on a mandrel.

Component B is similarly molded on a single unitary part, the gating being as indicated in phantom at G in FIGS. 1 and 3, the plastic being supplied through cruciform channels formed in the mold parts and flowing into the mold cavity proper through gates G1 to G4. From the periphery of the flange portion 3, the plastic flows into the sleeve portion 4 through further gates G5, G6 and G7. The cruciform piece G is removed by breaking the gates G1 to G4, the resulting projections which are left inside the hub of the flange ordinarily not requiring removal.

The sleeve portion 4 of component B is formed with an expanded rim 9 adapted to receive the rim 5 of flange 2 and have a pressure or snap fit thereon and the hub 10 of the flange portion 3 is formed to have a pressure or interference fit in the toothed section 8 of the barrel 1. The axial dimensions are preferably so related that the rim 9 comes flush with the outer face of the flange 2 (FIG. 5) before the flange element 3 has seated against the end of the barrel 1.

In use, component A is wound with adhesive tape or other material to be packaged, as shown in FIG. 4, and component B is assembled to it by sliding axially as shown in FIG. 5, bringing the sleeve rim 9 around the periphery of flange 2, and forcing the hub 10 into the toothed section 8 of the barrel 1. A slight further movement to bring the flange 3 into seating relation against the barrel 1, fractures the gates G5, G6 and G7, detaching the flange component 3 from the sleeve component 4. During this further movement sleeve 4 is held in any convenient manner, as by surface S supporting the component A (FIG. 5) and the assembly may be done by any of a variety of automatic machines of known type and having suitable means for holding and moving the components in the above-described manner.

The frangible gates G5, G6 and G7 (as well as the gates g1 to 54 and G1 to G4) may be very small, con- 'sistent with convenience of molding and ready frangibility. For example, in a package of theproportions indicated, where the flange is two inches in diameter, the radial length of one of these gates (spacing from rim of flange 3' to the sleeve 4) may beabout .02" while'its axial and circumferential thickness may be about .01 to .02" at the narrowest point.

The sleeve4 may be removed from the 'spool"1- 23 by simple pressurewith thefingers, as'indicated in FIG. 7 and may be replaced in the same-*way,--afiording the same type of removable cover as is provided'with present metal assemblies.

What is claimed is:

1. A spool packaging assembly comprising-two-components, each of which is a unitary molded plastic shape, the first component comprising a barrel and flange therefor, and the second component comprising a sleeve, adapted to fit over the first said flange and cover the barrel together with material wound thereon, and a flange having a plurality of frangible peripheral connections to the-sleeveand a hub adapted to fit'the barreland be held thereby.

2. A spool packaging assembly comprising two components, each of which is a unitary molded plastic shape capable of molding by mold components moving parallel --to a single axis, the first component comprising a barrel 'and flange therefor, and the second component comprising-a sleeve, adapted to fit over the first said flange and -cover the barrel together with materialwound thereon,

- and a flange having a plurality of frangible gate connec- 4 tions to the sleeve and a hub adapted to fit the barrel and be held thereby.

3. A spool packaging assembly comprising a spool member having a barrel and flange, a sleeve member having a sleeve adapted to -fit over said flange and cover the barrel together with material wound thereon, the sleeve member comprising also'a second flangehaving a hub adapted tdbe'pr'esslfittd to the barrel,*and frangible means peripherally joining'the second said" flange to the sleeve.

4. A spool packagingassembly-comprising a spool member having a barrel and flange, a sleeve member having a sleeve adapted to fit iover saidiflange and cover "the barrel together with material wound .thereon, a the sleeve member comprising also a second flange having. a hub adapted to he press fittedi to the barrelzand: a. periphery slightly spaced radiallyifrom the sleevepanda plurality of circumfcrentially spaced frangiblvmeans; peripher'ally joining the second said flangeto ithe sleeve.

References Cited in the-file of 'th-is'patent iUNITED'STATES PATENTS 2,400,024 "Roehrl May 7, 1946 2,724,867 *Smith 'N0v. 29, 1955 2,'8l4,405 Edwards Nov. 26, 1957 FOREIGN PATENTS 439,185 Great Britain Dec. 2, 1935 

